okami process gif + explanation (Patreon)

in case anybody was wondering - my process for pieces with environmental backgrounds goes like this:

sketch of character (taking in account the perspective and where the ground will be) > fully finish the background complete with lighting > line character sketch then colour.

the reason why i fully finish backgrounds before even touching the character is because i personally like to work out the lightsource FIRST! if you don't at LEAST put your lightsource in your environmental piece before you start colouring the character, you'll just be left guessing it and also run the risk of the character not really looking like they're apart of the scene. i'm not an expert on backgrounds by any means as i am still learning, but that's generally a rule of thumb that's helped me along the way!

as for how to approach learning to paint backgrounds.... i'll get back to you guys on that! lol

it's not something i consider myself super familiar with yet, so i don't want to give any bad tips!